Bottled water is anathema to many hardcore environmentalists. Taking water from the land and sky, putting it into containers made from oil, and shipping it around the world defies core eco-friendly values in many ways. Yet premium bottled water producer FIJI Water is aggressively marketing itself as green. You may have seen ads with the slogan “Our Promise, Our Progress” or “Every drop is green” and images of a bottle of FIJI Water next to a big green earth. On the bottle itself, the iconic hibiscus flower is now joined by a prominent green water droplet, and the back of the bottle invites you to visit FIJIGreen.com to find out more about the environmental impact of the water you’re drinking.

FIJI Water became the first bottled water company to publish its carbon footprint in 2007. Since then, the company has emphasized its commitment to the environment and transparency.

FIJI Water says its product is actually carbon negative, claiming the production of a single one-liter bottle equals results in the reduction of 115 grams of CO2 equivalent units (eq). The company plans to reduce its CO2 emissions by 25% over the next three years, convert to 50% renewable energy by 2010, and is pursuing recycling and reforestation programs on the island of Fiji.

But is a bottle of FIJI Water truly green? I grilled FIJI Water’s senior manager of sustainable growth, Barbara Chung, who had some interesting answers. Read the interview with FIJI Water below…

INTERVIEW WITH FIJI SUSTAINABILITY MANAGER BARBARA CHUNG

FIJI was included in a negative article about bottled water that appeared in Fast Company in July of 2007. A few months later, FIJI announced its sustainable growth initiative. Was the article a catalyst for FIJI’s green efforts?

Environmental stewardship has always been a core value for FIJI Water. The breadth and depth of our sustainable growth program cannot be thrown together in the course of a few months in response to a magazine article. You can’t save the largest rainforest in Fiji overnight – not if you want to do it right!

Our commitment to environmental stewardship is why the company decided over a decade ago to make the bottle square instead of round – to be able to pack more product into a shipping container. The square bottles result in 10% fewer shipping containers than would otherwise be required.

This is also why we make our own preforms and blow our own bottles on site rather than purchase preforms or bottles from elsewhere. By doing this, we have eliminated the need for over 10,000 containers of raw materials shipments into Fiji in 2007 alone, and we have significantly reduced emissions of greenhouse gases and other pollutants caused by transportation.

Give me a summary of the main thrusts of FIJI’s green initiative and some of the benchmarks you are aiming for.

To make FIJI Water a carbon negative product:

We are reducing CO2 emissions across our products’ entire life cycle by 25% over the next three years.

By 2010, 50% of our energy will come from renewable sources like wind to power our bottling facility in Fiji and biodiesel for transportation.

We are reducing product packaging by at least 20% by 2010.

We are investing in reforestation and renewable energy projects that will reduce CO2 in the atmosphere by at least 120% of the remaining life cycle emissions.

Every FIJI Water bottle helps remove carbon from the atmosphere. For example, our one-liter bottle results in removal of about 115 grams of CO2 (the same effect as shutting down a laptop overnight instead of leaving it on). All together, everyone who drinks FIJI Water in 2008 will help remove more than 20,000 tons of CO2 from the atmosphere, which is equivalent to planting over 500,000 trees. We have also become the first privately held company to join the Carbon Disclosure Project’s Supply Chain Leadership Collaboration.

“We consider our goals, whether they are 50% renewable energy or 20% reduction in packaging, as the minimum we ought to achieve, not the maximum.”

To guarantee that our offset projects generate the desired benefits, we are developing a reforestation project with Conservation International this year. We are planting native species in degraded areas that will not only sequester carbon, but also create biodiversity refuges and protect watersheds.

What will FIJI do to keep going green after those benchmarks are attained? For example, will FIJI be satisfied after converting to using renewable sources for 50% of its energy, will the company pursue a higher standard after the initial benchmark is achieved?

Sustainability is a journey rather than a destination, and there is always room for improvement in how any company does business. We are aiming to achieve the goals to which you refer by 2010. We will evaluate – not only in 2010, but today and on an ongoing basis – how we can continue to improve in environmental stewardship. Our carbon negative commitment will continue beyond 2010.

As for our conservation work, again, we are working to save the Sovi Basin in perpetuity. But we continue to look for other opportunities to do similar work. The technology for incorporating recycled materials in packaging will continue to improve beyond 2010, and as it does we’ll be able to increase our usage of recycled materials. We consider our goals, whether they are 50% renewable energy or 20% reduction in packaging, as the minimum we ought to achieve, not the maximum.

THE BOTTLE

FIJI has one of the thickest, heaviest bottles among bottled water brands. After the 20% reduction in packaging, how will the bottle’s heft compare to other brands like Nestle and Poland Spring?

FIJI declined to answer this question.

If it’s still heavier, is it because FIJI feels that having a heftier bottle is an essential part of the product?

We are in the process of determining how much we can continue to lightweight the bottles, but we will go with the lightest weight possible that still maintains the integrity and quality of our product.

How could a lighter weight bottle compromise the integrity and quality of the product, which is water? Is Fiji is keeping the bottle heftier than other brands for marketing reasons, for example because it sends a subconscious signal of quality to the consumer, or for whatever reason?

FIJI declined to answer this question.

As technology progresses, it’s becoming easier to go green and new alternatives to traditionally unsustainable practices are becoming available. Is FIJI looking into new technology that will allow new plastic bottles to be made from recycled PET?

Yes, we have already run tests at the plant looking to incorporate recycled PET into our bottles. Further performance tests are required to determine the level of rPET that is feasible for us to implement in the near term.

REDUCE > REUSE > RECYCLE

Of the three Rs, recycling is considered the least impactful. What is FIJI doing to reduce and reuse?

One of the most exciting things we’ve learned through assessing our carbon footprint is that recycling is the single most impactful thing anyone can do to reduce the carbon footprint of any packaged beverage, not just FIJI Water. For example, a consumer can reduce the carbon footprint of a one-liter bottle of FIJI Water by 30% through the simple act of recycling the packaging.

This is why we consider our advocacy for recycling programs and policies some of the most important work we do. Only half of the U.S. population is covered by curbside recycling programs, a number that has not changed over the past decade despite the increase in usage of most types of packaging. Rather than tell people to stop buying packaged products, don’t you think it’s more effective to press for expansion of recycling programs?

“Sustainability is a journey rather than a destination, and there is always room for improvement in how any company does business.”

As mentioned in a previous question, we have committed to reducing our packaging by at least 20% by 2010 and incorporating more recycled materials. Our cartons already use about 55% recycled content. Because we make our own preforms and bottles, we have avoided over 10,000 containers of raw materials shipments into Fiji in 2007 alone. We will reduce our manufacturing waste by at least 33% by 2010.

In addition to this, we have set up a recycling infrastructure at our bottling facility that not only helps us recycle what we cannot reclaim, but also provides a recycling facility for the local villages that previously had no such recourse.

GETTING IT AROUND THE WORLD

Fast Company reported that half the wholesale cost of FIJI Water is transportation. Has FIJI considered a reduction of sales or stopping shipments to areas that are especially far away or difficult to access by container ship?

The million local Fijians who live there deserve the benefits of economic development, and the way they’re going to achieve that is through trade with the rest of the world. FIJI Water makes up 3% of Fiji’s GDP, 20% of its exports and several hundred of its best-paid manufacturing jobs.

Is all FIJI water always shipped by container ship?

It travels by container ship from Fiji to destination ports around the world. Once on land, it usually travels by rail or truck.

HEALTHIER = GREENER?

The bottled water business has an innately negative impact on the environment and this impact is worsened when the water comes from as far away as Fiji. How do you justify to your critics shipping water to places like New York City, which has the best-tasting tap water in the United States?

It’s a misconception that bottled water is a substitute for tap water. Bottled water actually replaces other packaged beverages — the increase in bottled water volume over the past few years has mirrored the decline in carbonated soft drinks and sugary fruit drinks. There has actually been no material change in the consumption of tap water during this period of time.

In this 24/7, on-the-go society, we have few healthy eating habits in this country, and bottled water is one of them. Consumption of bottled water has helped eliminated nearly one trillion calories from our diets during each of the past two years – a triumph for health and good nutrition.

Bottled water, with the exception of purified water, is a natural product that requires no added ingredients or processing, while sodas and fruit-flavored beverages require farming and production of other raw materials that emit carbon, generate waste and require large amounts of water. As bottled water becomes a larger proportion of the beverage industry, it actually contributes to the overall greening of that industry.

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18 Comments

snowwhiteNovember 24, 2014 at 10:09 pm

I Don\\\’t know about you but I\\\’m dam thankful for bottled water, and Fiji water taste the best, why am I so thankful, I\\\’m at work 24/7 330 days a year. Yep you guessed it I don\\\’t have tap water. I don\\\’t have running water, something I miss something fierce, and in warmer weather my hair even gets drench\\\’d with it, softens it gets rid of frisis without using harsh hair products like moose\\\’s.even tho I use dove. When I stuck up on supplies I speed at least fifty just on water. Doesn\\\’t last long enough but buying it at a walmart helps keep price down.
I don\\\’t think folks buy bottled water cuz they want to clog up the earth with plastic, I think alot of folks don\\\’t trust our water supply source, and besides we have a shortage on water, just ask Californian\\\’s they are in a serious drought. Some towns like Montague ca parts near lake hughs, there water is trucked in. Town\\\’s up in the weavervile ca area wells are drying up too, tho there\\\’s creeks running thru there backyards. Some places bottled water is cheaper then tap water. They also don\\\’t wish to use there own resources up. Even Texas had server water drought issue\\\’s. Folks are recycling, trust me I haul all kinds of stuff from Bubble Wrap to pharmaceutical\\\’s to toys and food, recycled materials, everything from A to Z, yeah i\\\’m a truck driver, I love my Fiji water. Taste better then smart water. And those cheap plastic bottles allow toxicity into the water, plus they smash in transit, trailer\\\’ s get flooded and water destroy\\\’s the food that is also hauled to the stores in the same trailer, load\\\’s are lost. All becuz those cheap plastic bottles get smushed

fredLAOctober 9, 2010 at 1:08 am

Our family drinks bottled water exclusively. We tried filters on tap water but we only use that for cooking. It still gets us sick from time to time.i buy local bottled water from California springs such as the crystal geyser brand and recycle the plastic

I will do this as long as I live. LA water is contaminated and toxic. We get the toxicity reports every year and it gets worse.

louanMarch 8, 2009 at 3:03 pm

Wow, are they just b.s.ing us or do you think they really believe this nonsense? This is so much spin Chung must be dizzy from it. So true about the emperor’s new clothes comment.

The only green here seems to be the colour of money. Bottled water however is certainly a healthier alternative to sugar ( or chemical ) loaded carbonated drinks in – metal cans! At least they provide some form of employment and income for some of the residents of FIji. The whole bottled water industry is just that, a marketers dream and revenue generator and nothing more; with advertising geniuses telling us how ‘chic ‘ and ‘green’ we must be to consume this precious resource from single use and non reuseable containers at such outrageous prices.

williamemarksSeptember 29, 2008 at 9:10 pm

I’ve been a water author, researcher, and water testing laboratory director for over 40 years – while also traveling to 15 countries to study ancient and modern water management methods. When I read Fiji Water’s arguments about how they are actually helping Fijians have access to safe water – my response is that Fiji arguments are as foolish and transparent as the Emperor with no clothes. If Fiji Water were to take just one year’s profits it reaps from this small impoverished country, and invest it into improving Fiji’s water supply – Fiji Water would solve many of Fiji’s water woes.

That’s a great, and very informative, article. I sincerely enjoyed reading it, makes you think. I find if I drink tap, it tastes bad here – like chlorine – then I don’t get as much as I need. I reuse gallon containers and fill them up every week for 25 cents a gallon. Not too bad in price and at least it’s a step towards eco-friendly.

[…] there a need for bottled water? On Thursday, we questioned whether Fiji’s eco-friendly efforts were really that green. And it seems that the folks at […]

jeanXSeptember 26, 2008 at 7:21 pm

I drink tap water.
If your tap water isn’t OK,
seek local gov
then county gov.
I can’t afford to do otherwise.

wedesSeptember 26, 2008 at 5:55 pm

Great article–great photos! In the next five years we will see a startling shift from plastic bottle purchasing. Already, more glass bottling is making its way back to the grocery shelves. Consumer demand will vacate the plastic sector and opt for glass or aluminum or not purchase. Fiji, may want to start assessing the benefits of striking deals with glass bottling plants around the globe.

brin366September 26, 2008 at 3:04 pm

What does “carbon neutral” really mean? Isn’t an “offsett” really just having the bucks to deprive someone else from accessing clean/renewable energy? Is planting a tree and “offset”, when that tree should have been planted anyway? Or how about an old growth forest that is left standing instead of clear cut…is that an “offsett” too? I see the polluting industries buying their way – same old story.

jenr1120September 26, 2008 at 1:13 pm

I find it interesting that we choose to rail on a company that’s at the very least trying. Questions these companies? Absolutely we must. I also find it interesting that most of us probably don’t know where our tap water comes from and have any relative interest in the local communities around those sources. If we all want true change, we should force ourselves to actually buy and think locally. We speak best and loudest with our pocketbooks (and our taps).

I advise you to see the BBC Panorama report on this brand. Ok it may be green on some sides, but when you take a look at the water ressource on the island, then you see the contradiction between being carbon neutral but not being able to provide safe water for local populations…

\\\”Called Fiji Water, it travels 10,000 miles to be sold in restaurants and upmarket shops such as Waitrose, Harvey Nichols and Harrods. Fiji Water\\\’s bottling plant supplies London\\\’s restaurants and shops
But on the South Pacific island one-third of the population don\\\’t have access to safe clean drinking water.

We visited villages where bad water had triggered an outbreak of typhoid – 20 people had been infected and one had died.